One thing is for those who have a slower internet connection speed, it will hopefully take up less bandwidth than skype or other apps would for voice chat. Otherwise yeah the whole voice chat situation on Switch is very strange. But it's nice it's confirmed to be included in Splatoon 2, even if I likely won't use it, at least not very much.

I agree that it is certainly strange that it will require a smart device to use voice chat. Why couldn't it be via a mic in the system? Even the Wii U did that. Just an odd decision I suppose. It's something I'd rather not use randomly but it would be useful with friends and such without using something else. The ones who wanted voice chat got it, so good for them.

_________________"So say I, Hilda of Lorule"Thank you Queen!

[21:48:28] @ Luma Party : I tried to ban Zero, but it didn't work

"So? A baseball has stitches! Are you saying all baseballs are suspicious because they have stitches!?" - Phoenix Wright

Here's some new Splatoon 2 info we got from an interview with 4G Gamer:

Weapon types and stages

- Nintendo wants to bring about the same type of enjoyment as the first title by introducing weapon updates- for players who already decided on using a particular weapon type, Nintendo will prepare more variation to entice players- four stages were shown in the trailer, with three being new and one being a refresh with new elements- other stages will be returning as well, but with new elements

On the setting

- two years have passed in Splatoon 2’s world- young residents of the squid world now tend to listen music that’s a bit more advanced and with a twisted feel

Gear

- some gear will be carried over from the original- completely new designs- even if the shape is the same, coloring trends tend to change- in the ’90s, high-tech Nike sneakers may have been hip, but were later outdated- wearing more low-cut sneakers would be popular

About different user interface from Wii U to Switch

- dev team tried to keep the same properties and main controls from Wii U- any elements where you were glancing between both screens have been accounted for via button inputs on Switch

New map display system

- came up with the current system after plenty of trial and erro- players can still control their character while displaying the map- the map was fixed in a bird’s-eye view on Wii U, but if you move with gyro controls, the map also moves- Nintendo wants the map to be viewed in a 3D sense- this is so you can more easily recognize where enemies are or where areas have been painted

Super Jump

- only buttons

Single-player campaign

- single player confirmed- planned to have the same volume of content as the first title- Nintendo wants the campaign to serve as a way of players to become familiar with the controls- they also want to show the depth of the squid world similar to what had done with Sunken Scroll

amiibo

- will be supported

Online service / subscription

- if you post something like, “Does someone want to battle?” on social media, you can get together with others and create a nice temporal community- you can battle while communicating via voice chat- Nintendo is planning on building a system so players can do things like this easily

Splatfests

- would like to host regular events which players can look forward to

About no Miiverse

- there is no Miiverse on Switch, but Nogami wants to create a similar feature which will generate the same kind of excitement

Lag

- transmission data size has been decreased thanks to some optimization- this means connection errors will happen less than in the first Splatoon- Nintendo will be trying to match players who are closer together or on a similar communication quality as much as possible- various improvements from the last game are being implemented in Splatoon 2 as well- a person’s internet connection quality can’t just be judged by throughput, since various elements need to be considered- Nintendo isn’t just measuring with one regulation- Nintendo is trying to improve various layers of communication quality issues

New players

- Nogami wants old and new players to be satisfied- in order to strike a balance, Nintendo is putting an emphasis on making Splatoon 2 fun to control and play above all else- Nogami points out how if you don’t feel enjoyment when you kick a ball, you won’t want to continue playing soccer- strategy will be built by players gradually, and Nogami wants to grow the environment together with players- If Nintendo adds new weapons and stages at once, some players will be left behind- content will be added by carefully watching how players interact with the game

I think the most interesting point is that more stages will be returning but with new elements. So it looks like we'll be seeing more than just Moray Towers getting that refresh treatment!

Urchin Underpass is sure to return due to it being the staple stage now, where likely getting a few new Splatoon amiibo and I believe this is the first we have heard about the online system being able to connect to your social media accounts.

The testfire did really help with sales for the original game, so I'm not surprised that they're doing it again. It's also a good way to test out servers sizes, etc. well before the game actually launches in summer.

One of the maps we saw in the reveal trailer has now been fully revealed as Diadema Ampitheater!

This one looks really cool, it's definitely my favorite of the four maps shown off in the trailer based on a visual standpoint. (obviously we don't know quite enough about the map layouts to figure anything else out just yet)

Cool! I was kind of expecting it to be the Amiptheater stage but that makes sense too. I wish I could play in the Global Testfire, but I don't have a Switch and am not planning to buy one until this game actually releases.